Open source
A British art dealer and 20 Italians have been arrested, along with one person in Spain and another in Germany, after police identified artefacts looted from Greek and Roman archeological sites in Sicily. This is reported by TheTelegraph.
Police have arrested an international ring of traffickers alleged to have smuggled thousands of stolen Sicilian archaeological treasures worth more than £30 million to collectors and auction houses across Europe.
Investigators, who began probing the ring four years ago, said a gang had «systematically looted Sicily’s rich archaeological heritage».
The police recovered more than 25,000 items including ancient coins, statues and pottery.
Europol stated that key facilitators in the trafficking ring were «also acting from Barcelona and London, coordinating the supply chain and providing technical support».
«Met Police officers acting on a European arrest warrant issued by Italian magistrates Wednesday arrested the art dealer, Thomas William Veres, 64, in London,» – said the police spokesman during the news conference.
The investigation, code-named «Operation Demetra», is now continuing with a probe of two notable auction houses in Munich, Major Luigi Mancuso said.
Up to 250 officers have already been involved in the search from the Carabinieri, which leads Italy’s efforts to defend its national art treasures and has a special command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage based in Rome.
During searches carried out across Europe yesterday, officers also seized metal detectors among 1,500 tools allegedly used by smuggling gangs to locate artefacts.
«A 64-year-old man was arrested on a European Arrest Warrant and taken to a north London police station. A large quantity of antiquities and coins were seized», – a Met Police spokesman stated.
The Sicilian smuggling operation is alleged to have been masterminded by Francesco Lucerna, aged 76.
Investigators believes, that Mr Lucerna regularly dispatched stolen archaeological remains to northern Italy through a network of couriers where they allegedly made contact with Mr Veres’ gang.
The gang also set up workshops where teams of counterfeiters copied some of the archaeological remains and sold replica copies as originals.
Much of the loot was smuggled to Germany. Two Munich auction houses are reportedly under investigation in connection with the smuggling operation.
Among the suspects held across Europe was a 61-year-old Italian arrested in the German town of Ehingen.
Police has found €30,000 (£26,000) in cash in his apartment, according to German press reports.
Mr Veres is of Hungarian origin, but said to have lived in Switzerland. Last year, he was arrested by Spanish police on charges of alleged possession of dozens of stolen treasures.
«The London art merchant Thomas William Veres commanded a transnational criminal holding that was able to traffic considerable quantities of Sicilian archaeological artifacts», – the Police stated.
The arrests bring to a close an investigation that began in 2014 when police discovered an illegal archaeological dig in the sleepy Mafia-infested town of Riesi in the impoverished Sicilian province of Caltanisetta.
Spanish Guardia Civil agents nabbed an alleged accomplice in Barcelona, Andrea Palma, 36, an Italian.
German police from Baden-Wurttemberg arrested another alleged gang member in the German town of Edingen, who was identified as another Italian, Rocco Mondello, aged 61.
As «The Journalist» reported earlier, the Deputy Director of the Archaeological Guard Service of Ukraine has told about problems of archaeological research in Ukraine.
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